SAFE HAVEN FOR A CLOWN |
Clownfish
are one of the favourite subjects for the underwater photographer. These
little fish are beautifully coloured, reliably found at the same place
every day, and are not shy. In fact they are quite brave and often swim
towards any intruder in the hope of chasing him or her away. For the photographer
this can be something of a problem for it is often impossible to focus
as close as the clownfish comes to the camera.
Another name for these animals is anemone fish because they live in close association with sea anemones, themselves quite aggressive invertebrates that feed upon small fish, crabs and plankton. The food is caught by the anemone's tentacles which are themselves armed with powerful stinging cells called nematocysts, and coated by a sticky mucus. Biologists were at first confused about how the clownfish could swim unharmed among the stinging tentacles of the anemone. The answer to this conundrum was solved a number of years ago when it was realised that the clownfish have a clever means of immunising themselves against the stinging anemones. Before adopting an anemone as a safe haven the clownfish carefully rubs itself against the mucus clad tentacles, coating its own body with the anemone's mucus. It seems that the anemones do not then recognise the fish as either potential food or potential enemies and the clownfish are then free to swim among the tentacles unharmed.
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